My first encounter with the music of Woldemar Bargiel (1828 97) was in 1997 and Steven Isserlis’s recording of his Adagio for cello and orchestra, surely among the most beautiful and moving short works for the instrument. I played it obsessively. Since then, I have been wondering if there were any other undiscovered Bargiel treasures, and I had high hopes when this new disc came my way – especially with the Leonore Trio on board: their previous release of Litolff piano trios (3/20) was a revelation.

Well, perhaps I was expecting too much. This pair of trios, with their consummate craftsmanship in the best German tradition, have little that is individual or memorable. Dating from 1851 and 1857 respectively, the two trios, each with four movements, have few themes that lodge in your head; rather there are striking motifs (like the vigorous march of Trio No 1’s first movement) that make their mark. Though Bargiel is very much his own man, he clearly knows his Mendelssohn, Brahms and Schumann (husband of his stepsister Clara), the latter two close friends and admirers, but lacks the melodic appeal that has made their efforts in the field so enduringly popular. An early edition of Grove suggests that Bargiel as a composer ‘makes up for a certain lack of freshness and spontaneity in his themes by most carefully elaborated treatment’. I think that’s about right.

Frankly, the greater pleasure of this recording is the playing of the Leonore Trio, excellently recorded by David Hinitt and Andrew Keener in Henry Wood Hall (neither too spacious nor too intimate). Gemma Rosefield’s soaring cello in, say, the second movement of Trio No 2 is a delight, violinist Benjamin Nabarro’s violin is forthright and impassioned, while Tim Horton, who certainly has his work cut out, pushes the narrative forwards with dexterity and not a little stamina. But it is the way these three talented musicians blend together that merits the largest bouquet. More please! The piano trio being such a popular medium in the 19th century, there is yet a huge forgotten repertoire waiting to be explored.